The atmosphere in the Imperial Palace was stifling and thick with tension. Servents were quieter and extra careful as they carried out their duties. It was as though everyone in the palace was holding their breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
In the Dowager Queen's courtyard, the Dowager Queen and the Emperor sat facing each other. The Dowager Queen's courtyard was just one enormous room. She preferred it that way. Instead of a room furnished with exquisite exotic costly decorations, paintings, screens, vases, ceramics, and rare, priceless treasures, the Dowagers Queen's room was a simple, light-colored elegant room.
The four walls of the enormous room was ringed with dark wooden bookshelves. The bookshelves were stuffed to capacity with books and scrolls. The bookshelves of the back wall was concealed by a sliding divider that looked like a regular wall. An elegant but intricate weird looking screen hung on the walls of the sliding divider. The Dowager Queens room was unorthodox, but she was a woman who never cared about the opinion of others anyway.
Below the screen, the Dowager Queen sat on her bedding behind a beautiful, elegant low floor desk. The room was sparsely furnished, other than the dark wooden bookshelves and the desk. There were only several cabinets and dressers furnishing the enormous room.
One arm of the Dowager Queen rested comfortably on her pillow and the other in her lap. Her eyes were closed, and weariness hung heavy on her countenance. On the opposite side of the desk, the Emperor sat facing her. The Emperor silently waited. The Dowager Queen had paused to gather her thoughts.
Finally, the eyes of the Dowager Queen opened. The gaze of the Dowager Queen locked onto her Imperial son, who sat before her, and she said, "After the incidents that followed the death of your Imperial Father, I had already vowed I would no longer involve myself with matters of the court. The last time I did, things did not go well. My deepest regret was involving myself in something that I had no talent in. I should have known better, but at that time, I was too lost in grief, and I was determined to satisfy the bloodlust that consumed my heart. So I gave in to the pressure of the officials of the court." The Dowager Queen said as she rested both her hands in her lap.
"There are people who are talented and gifted in politics, and there are people who are not. I am one of the people with no gift for politics. Had I not fallen in love with your Imperial father, never would I have stepped foot in this place." Deep regret and sorrow colored the voice of Dowager Queen as she spoke.
"I understand that well, Imperial mother. However, the only reason I made Yan Zhì Huì my Queen was because of Imperial Mother. Although I am coming to the end of my patience, I dare not proceed further without Imperial mother's approval first." The Emperor said in a very gentle manner with eyes full of gentleness and love, showing a side that Liu Tián Qǔ would have been utterly shocked to see.
"That has been my biggest regret," the Dowager Queen shook her head sadly, her eyes had grown suspiciously bright. "It was Prime Minister Peng who heavily recommended the daughter of the Yan family. Although I have not involved myself in the happenings among your harem in the inner court, it does not mean that I am not aware of what is going on. I will support whatever decision you choose to make my child," a very emotional Dowager Queen said.
"Imperial Mother need not worry. Things are not as dire as you may think them to be." The Emperor said gently in an effort to comfort his Imperial mother.
"In fact, things have been in my favor for a while. It's just that it is not yet time for me to act. The Chen Family and the Peng Family was the Yan Family's source of power. I have been very careful not to give the Yan Family power or high positions in the Imperial court. Now that the Chen Family and the Peng Family has been eliminated, it would be no problem for me to handle the Yan Family. I will take care of the situation with the Queen very soon. However, for several reasons, I cannot act just yet.
"I understand my child. However, you must remember that a tumor that is not removed will grow. The situation will worsen if the tumor is malignant. With Noble Consort Peng gone, one tumor has been removed. Don't take too long to remove the final tumor." The Dowager Queen advised the Emperor.
"Yes, Imperial Mother," The Emperor acknowledged.
"There is just one other thing that concerns me. This Young Master Liu, according to what your Imperial older brother has been telling me. He sounds... a bit wild. With the Queen going to find trouble for him, I fear..."
The Emperor shook his head and chuckled as he cut his Imperial mother off by saying, "Young Master Liu belongs to Wang Fèn Yǒng. Imperial mother need not worry. I am almost one hundred percent certain that Young Master Liu will give me some face this time."
With a confused expression, the Dowager Queen nodded and said, "Yes, I am aware that they are friends. However..."
The Emperor once again cut the Dowager Queen off. With a playful smile curling about his lips, he shook his head and said, "No, Imperial mother, you don't understand. They are more than just friends."
"Wang Fèn Yǒng is interested in men instead of women?" The Dowager Queen gasp in dubious astonishment.
The Emperor burst into deep mirthful laughter filled with lightness and amusement, "No Imperial mother, Young Master Liu, is in fact, a female. She has already claimed Wang Fèn Yǒng as her's. It looked to me that Wang Fèn Yǒng is allowing himself to be claimed and has made a claim of his own as well.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Ah!?" the Dowager Qwen exclaimed in joy and happiness. She had no time to be shocked over the fact that Liu Tián Qǔ was a female. She was too happy that her grandson finally found someone who he would allow himself to be betrothed. For so long, she feared her oldest grandson would grow old alone and die a sad, lonely old man.
The servants that stood fifty paces back from the entrance of the Dowager Queen's courtyard exchanged looks of shock, astonishment, and deep puzzlement.
Although they couldn't hear the words that were being exchanged inside, the shouts of laughter coming from the Dowager Queen's courtyard was so loud, even standing fifty paces away, as they were, they could hear it. Just what is going on? The Emperor was so furious earlier they feared that he would grab a sword and go hack the Queen to pieces.
Now, here he is sitting in his Imperial mother's courtyard having a merry, joyful time. Everyone felt deeply confused, as if they missed something very important.
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In the Eastern Courtyard of the Heir of Wang Royal Manor, with both hands clasped behind his back, a tall, devastatingly gorgeous man with frighteningly ice-cold eyes, paced back and forth in the study of the Eastern courtyard.
The moment the Eunuchs had left the Imperial Palace with a decree summoning Liu Tián Qǔ to the Palace, Wang Fèn Yǒng's Shadow Warrior's informed him immediately. Wang Fèn Yǒng barely stopped himself from rushing over to Liu Residence. He understood the kind of person that Liu Tián Qǔ was and knew that she would want to handle the matter for herself.
Wide-eyed Shadow Guards hid in the shadows watching Wang Fèn Yǒng as he paced back and forth. Never have they seen Wang Fèn Yǒng lose his composure and display the level of emotion that unbeknown to him sporadically flashed across his face as he paced.
Wang Fèn Yǒng couldn't understand why the Emperor allowed the decree to leave the palace in the first place. Thick heavily killing intent filled the study. Wang Fèn Yǒng vowed deep in his heart that if anything went wrong with the woman he finally opened up his heart to, then he would take matter's into his own hands.
Just as Wang Fèn Yǒng turned to begin pacing back across the study, several Shadow Warriors appeared in the study.
It was the team that he had sent to guard Liu Tián Qǔ from the shadows. A sudden foreboding shrouded Wang Fèn Yǒng's heart. The expression on Wang Fèn Yǒng's face and his eyes remained ice-cold as he looked at the Deputy Commander that he assigned to lead the team.
"Speak," Wang Fèn Yǒng commanded.
The Deputy Commander bowed and greeted Wang Fèn Yǒng before giving his report, "From what we were able to discern, Liu Tián Qǔ chose not to answer the Queen's summon. Instead, she chose to make herself ill."
As Wang Fèn Yǒng listened to the report, he had removed his hands from the clasp that he held them in, behind his back. He held his hand at his side and hid his hands in the sleeves of his robes. None of the Shadow Warriors was aware that his hands that were hidden in his sleeves were trembling. If asked, Wang Fèn Yǒng wouldn't be able to explain why the foreboding that he felt was turning into fear.
"Make herself ill? Explain!" Wang Fèn Yǒng Commanded.
"Yes, Your highness, even though her body is not in the best of health, she decided to take a potion that she knew would make her ill. Her intention is to use the potion to play possum. When we left, she was putting her affairs in order. Her Shadow Guards reported for duty, and we were asked to leave," the Deputy Shadow Warrior reported.
Wang Fèn Yǒng's heart froze, "Did you happen to overhear the name of the potion she decided to take?"
"Yes, Your Highness, the name of the potion is called Black Blossom."
Fear exploded in Wang Fèn Yǒng's heart. Wang Fèn Yǒng barely stopped himself from rushing towards the exit of the study. Liu Tián Qǔ was not an inexperienced person who didn't know what she was doing. So he decided to trust her, respect her decisions, and wait.
Wang Fèn Yǒng was unaware of how flabbergasted and shocked the Shadow Warriors the shadows were. One Shadow Guard stationed on the roof of the Eastern Courtyard was so shocked and astonished he slipped and fell from the roof of the courtyard. He barely managed to perform a somersault just in time to keep himself from crashing to the ground in a manner that would have caused him great injury. Wang Fèn Yǒng was so distracted that he never noticed.
Ever since Liu Tián Qǔ told him of her intention to take the potion, Liu Tián Qǔ had begun researching the Black Blossoms Dual Potion.
Wang Fèn Yǒng was very aware of the stress that Liu Tián Qǔ had been under over the past two weeks. Many times his Shadow Guards reported that she forgot to eat. Wang Fèn Yǒng would have his kitchen prepare several portions of food. He would then take it over and eat with her.
Sometimes he wasn't able to eat with her because she was too busy traveling back and forth between the Garrison she was planning to build and the Jiang's old garrison where the army that Commander Jiang was gathering was stationed.
She had lost weight and looked gaunt the last time that Wang Fèn Yǒng saw her. For her to take the Black Blossom Potion under the condition that her body was in was asking for trouble. Wang Fèn Yǒng couldn't restrain the fear and foreboding that was growing his heart.
He couldn't explain the feelings he felt for Liu Tián Qǔ as just love. It was so much more than just that. For the first time in all of his lives, instead of using him, a woman completely accepted him for who he was. The good parts of him and the bad, she didn't try to change him or force her beliefs on him or tell him how she thought he should be or should act. She didn't judge. She accepted all of him.
After deciding that he and love was ill-fated, he had given up on love. Yet, now he found someone who made the love he felt in his first life feel so shallow. Wang Fèn Yǒng felt deep regret, as he continued to pace back and forth. His heart was too unsettled for him to rest.
Although he knew that Liu Tián Qǔ had captured his heart, he still held back and kept a distance between them. He never fully expressed what was in his heart.
Although Wang Fèn Yǒng had no intention of doing anything with a person who was in the body of a thirteen-year-old girl, he still could have told the woman in the thirteen-year-old body how he truly felt and what she meant to him.
However, the hurt of betrayal from his first life had hurt too deeply. The thorns in his heart had yet to diminish. For that cause, he held back and kept a certain distance, now he regretted.
If the Queen valued her life, then she better pray that nothing went wrong, or he was going to go collect her life from her.
Since his Imperial Uncle didn't give him any face by controlling the women in his harem and allowed the Queen to attack his woman, then consequences be damned, he wasn't going to give the emperor any face either. For the first time ever, he was utterly disappointed and furious with his Imperial Uncle.
Wang Fèn Yǒng was hesitant to send his Shadow Guards back over to Liu Residence. He wanted no there to be no conflict between his Shadow guards and Liu Tián Qǔ's Shadow. However, the need he felt to know what was going on just couldn't be contained. The fear in his heart directed his feet towards Liu Residence, so Wang Fèn Yǒng decided to go take a look to make sure Liu Tián Qǔ was okay and to see if there was anything he could do to help.
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